System and method for configuring and displaying communications between users in an organization

ABSTRACT

The method and system may be used to configure communications between users within an organization and displays the communications specific to the organization on a secondary device. An administrator interface module receives a selection of one or more users within the organization as recipients of a message. The message is transmitted to a module that determines whether the received message includes communications specific to the organization, and if so, the intelligent communication module causing the message to be routed to a secondary device for display via a private communication network and not be routed to the primary device. However, if the message is determined to not include communications specific to the organization, the intelligent communication module causing the message to be routed to the primary device via the private communication network.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/085,269 filed Nov. 20, 2013, entitled “System and Method forConfiguring and Displaying Communications Between Users in anOrganization.” The contents of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/085,269 are expressly incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates to electronic communications and, moreparticularly, to configuring electronic communications between users inan organization.

BACKGROUND

In today's workplace, many office workers are inundated daily with manydifferent types of electronic messages or electronic communications,such as email, digitized voicemail, instant messages, texts, calendarinvites, etc. The number and frequency of these received electronicmessages continue to grow exponentially and are increasingly distractingoffice workers from concentrating on their work. Over time, thesedistractions begin affecting an office worker's overall productivity andthereby the financials of the office worker's employer. For example,most office workers use only a single computing device, both to performtheir work tasks and to receive work-related messages. The dualfunctionality of this singular computing device poses an obstacle to anoffice worker. While performing work tasks, the office worker isregularly interrupted by electronic messages. Furthermore, incomingmessages are generally accompanied with a notification window that isprioritized over other currently running applications.

Furthermore, an office worker may receive electronic communications vianumerous and different interfaces, such as a mail client application, aninstant message client application, an internet video interface clientapplication, etc. In attempting to simultaneously run multiple clientapplications that all receive different types of messages, a worker maystruggle with a display that is cluttered with too many windows for thescreen's limited real estate.

Additionally, an office worker may receive a work-related message at oneor more different devices, such as a mobile phone, a desktop computer,or a tablet, etc. Receiving multiple notifications for the same messageacross these multiple devices may further distract the office worker inthat each device has its own inherent program(s) and window(s) to causedistraction. In addition to keeping track of multiple communicationclient applications and devices, the office worker must manage allincoming messages by manually filtering or prioritizing the incomingmessages. It is time consuming and cumbersome for the user to manuallymanage all incoming messages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system in which techniques forconfiguring communications between users in an organization areimplemented;

FIG. 2 is an illustration that shows an example workstation whichincludes a primary display and a secondary device;

FIG. 3 is an example screenshot that illustrates the display of acommunication user interface on a secondary device;

FIG. 4 is an example screenshot that illustrates the display of acalendar user interface on a secondary device;

FIG. 5 is an example screenshot that illustrates the display of a taskmanagement user interface on a secondary device;

FIG. 6 is an example screenshot that illustrates the display of anadministrator interface on an administrator device;

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of an example method for efficiently presentingdata to a user operating a primary device in a private communicationnetwork specific to an organization; and

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of an example method for configuringcommunications in a communication network of an organization.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Generally, a communication system configures communications betweenusers within an organization and displays the communications specific tothe organization on a secondary device. This secondary device may be adedicated device or a permanent device that may be located at eachuser's desk or workspace. Moreover, the secondary device enables anadministrator to efficiently deliver tailored content to an individualuser, a group of users, an entire office of users, all usersorganization-wide, or any other suitable grouping of users desired.

In any event, an administrator interface module receives a selection ofone or more users within the organization as recipients of a message.The administrator module in turn causes the message to be transmitted toan intelligent communication module within a communication server. Theintelligent communication module determines whether the received messageincludes communications specific to the organization, and if so, theintelligent communication module causing the message to be routed to asecondary device for display via a private communication network and notbe routed to the primary device. However, if the message is determinedto not include communications specific to the organization, theintelligent communication module causing the message to be routed to theprimary device via the private communication network. Alternatively, theadministrator module may cause the message to be transmitted directly toa dedicated communication module within the secondary device, and thededicated communication module determines the routing of the messagebased on whether the message includes communications specific to theorganization.

This technique is discussed in more detail below with reference to FIGS.1-8. In particular, an example system in which one or more communicationmodules may configure communications between users within anorganization is described with reference to FIG. 1, an illustrationshowing an example workstation which includes a primary display and asecondary device is discussed with reference to FIG. 2, examplescreenshots illustrating different types of user interfaces of asecondary device is discussed with reference to FIGS. 3-5, an examplescreenshot illustrating an administrator interface is discussed withreference to FIG. 6, and example methods which the one or morecommunication modules may implement to configure communications betweenusers within an organization are discussed with reference to FIGS. 7 and8.

Referring first to FIG. 1, a communication system 10 includes a primarydevice 12, a secondary device 14, a communication server 20, and anadministrator device 18 that each may be connected to each other via anyhardwired or wireless digital communication network 16, including forexample a hardwired or wireless local area network (LAN), metropolitanarea network (MAN) or wide area network (WAN), the Internet, or anycombination thereof. The primary device 12 may be, for example, ageneral-purpose computer, such as a laptop, a desktop, or other suitabletype of computer that may be running a standard operating system such asWindows or OS X, for example. On the other hand, the secondary device 14may be a special-purpose computing device (e.g., a tablet, a mobiledevice, etc.) configured to a particular set of tasks related toreceiving and delivering communications within an organization. Forpurposes of this discussion, an “organization” may include a businessentity that employs a plurality of users, a nonprofit organization,medical groups, educational organizations, etc.

The primary device 12, the secondary device 14, the communication server20, and the administrator device 18 may be communicatively connected toeach other via any suitable communication system, such as any publicallyavailable and/or privately owned communication network, including thosethat use hardwired based communication structure, such as telephone andcable hardware, and/or wireless communication structure, such aswireless communication networks, including for example, wireless LANsand WANs, satellite and cellular phone communication systems, etc.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the primary device 12 mayincludes a CPU 28, a memory 30, and a user interface 32. The secondarydevice 14 may include a CPU 34, a graphics processing unit (GPU) 36, acomputer-readable memory 40, a display 46, a communication module 48,and a user interface 38 including a touch interface (not shown). Invarious implementations, the touch interface can include a touchpad overwhich the user moves her fingers while looking at a separately providedscreen, a touchscreen where the user places her fingers directly overthe image being manipulated or over a displayed control being activated(e.g. a displayed keyboard), etc. The user-input device (not shown) mayinclude a “soft” keyboard that is displayed on the display 46 of thesecondary device 14, an external hardware keyboard communicating via awired or a wireless connection (e.g., a Bluetooth keyboard), an externalmouse, or any other suitable user-input device. The memory 24 is acomputer-readable non-transitory storage device that may include bothpersistent (e.g., a hard disk) and non-persistent (e.g., RAM) memorycomponents, stores instructions executable on the CPU 34 and/or the GPU36 that make up a dedicated communication module 44. The dedicatedcommunication module 44, for example, may display communicationsspecific to the organization to the user via a communication userinterface.

Referring still to FIG. 1, the communication server 20 is a separatedevice from the primary device 12, the secondary device 14, and theadministrator device 18 and includes a central processing unit (CPU) 22and a computer-readable memory 24. The memory 24 is a computer-readablenon-transitory storage device that may include both persistent (e.g., ahard disk) and non-persistent (e.g., RAM) memory components, storesinstructions executable on the CPU 22 that make up an intelligentcommunication module 26. The intelligent communication module 26according to various implementations operates as a router for processingand determining one or more recipients or destinations for receivedcommunications.

These communications may include electronic mail (i.e., email), a text,digitized voice/voicemail, voice over IP (i.e., VoIP) for videoconferencing, a video message, an instant message, a digital calendarevent or invite, contact information, a task or to-do item, anelectronic sticky note, etc. Moreover, the communications orcommunication data include electronic digital data that may be stored ona computer readable medium and may be formatted in ASCII, Unicode, orany other encoding scheme. Furthermore, the data may encode audio data,video data, or any other type of data that may be digital data andstored on a computer readable medium.

The administrator device 18 may include a CPU 50, a GPU 52, acomputer-readable memory 58, a display 56, a communication module 62,and a user interface 54 including a touch interface (not shown). Invarious implementations, the touch interface can include a touchpad overwhich the user moves her fingers while looking at a separately providedscreen, a touchscreen where the user places her fingers directly overthe image being manipulated or over a displayed control being activated(e.g. a displayed keyboard), etc. The user-input device (not shown) mayinclude a “soft” keyboard that is displayed on the display 56 of theadministrator device 18, an external hardware keyboard communicating viaa wired or a wireless connection, an external mouse, or any othersuitable user-input device. The memory 58 is a computer-readablenon-transitory storage device that may include both persistent andnon-persistent memory components, stores instructions executable on theCPU 50 and/or the GPU 52 that make up an administrator interface module60. For example, the administrator interface module 60 may display anadministration interface for configuring communication between userswithin an organization.

In an example scenario, the communication server 20 receives electroniccommunication data from the administrator device 18. In response, thecommunication server 20 provides the received communication data to theintelligent communication module 26 for processing and routing. In thisscenario, the intelligent communication module 26 determines an intendedrecipient for the message based on the communication data but any methodof recipient determination may be used. Generally, the intelligentcommunication module 26 determines the intended recipient from thereceived communication data and routes the communication dataaccordingly. Additionally, the intelligent communication module 26 maydetermine the type of data associated with the received communicationdata.

For example, the intelligent communication module 26 may only routereceived communication data that is specific to the organization to thesecondary device 14 and communication data that is not specific to theorganization to the primary device 12. As another example, theintelligent communication module 26 may only route communication dataspecific to the organization to secondary device 14 in the absence ofany file attachments associated with the communication. Otherwise, theintelligent communication module 26 may route all messages with one ormore file attachments, even if the communication data is specific to theorganization, to the primary device 12. Furthermore, the intelligentcommunication module 26, or any other module, may assign a level ofpriority to the data and then route the data to secondary device 14 inaccordance to the assigned level of priority. Of course, the intelligentcommunication module 26 may be disposed within the memory 58 of theadministrator device 18.

For simplicity, FIG. 1 illustrates the communication server 20 as onlyone instance of a server device. However, the communication server 20,according to some implementations, may alternatively consist of a groupof one or more communication servers, each equipped with one or moreprocessors and capable of operating independently of the othercommunication servers. Communication servers operating in such a groupcan process requests from the administrator device 18 individually(e.g., based on availability), in a distributed manner where oneoperation associated with processing a request is performed on onecommunication server while another operation associated with processingthe same request is performed on another communication server, oraccording to any other suitable technique. Furthermore, thecommunication server 20 according to various implementations operates asa standalone server device, a cloud-based server device, or a serverdevice disposed within the primary device 12, administrator device 18,etc. For the purposes of this discussion, the term “communicationserver” may refer to an individual communication server, to a group oftwo or more communication servers, or to a cloud-based server.

For additional clarity, FIG. 2 shows an illustration 70 of an exampleworkstation which includes an example primary display 72 and an examplesecondary device 74. In this example, the communication system routesall data that includes communication specific to the organization to theexample secondary device 74 and all data that does not includecommunications specific to the organization to the primary device 72. Asshown in FIG. 2, for example, a user predominantly performs her work onthe example primary device 72 and only receives data that does notinclude communications that are specific to the organization. Moreover,the user, in this example, manages incoming data that does includecommunications that are specific to the organization via the examplesecondary device 74. As result, the user may run less, if any at all,communication client applications on the primary device 72 because thesecondary device 74 receives the majority of the communications in thisexample. As a result, the user benefits from having increased screenreal estate while working on the primary device 72. Furthermore, if theuser possesses multiple devices (e.g., a landline telephone, a mobilephone, a tablet, a laptop, etc.) that all simultaneously receive data,the user may save time in not having to operate each device separatelybecause the secondary device 74 receives all data.

Furthermore, the secondary device 74 may attach or be affixed to amounting assembly (not shown) that supports and mounts the secondarydevice 74 to a desk, a table, etc. The mounting assembly may include asupport structure that attaches or mounts to the desk, table, etc. and arotating structure that attaches to the secondary device 74. Thesecondary device 74 may attach to the rotating structure using any typeof mechanical, chemical adhesive, etc. means (e.g., bolts, screws, glue,etc.) The rotating structure of the mounting assembly allows thesecondary device 74 to rotate in place about a fixed axis while thesupport structure remains mounted to the desk, table, etc. The rotatingstructure may lock into different orientations to allow the secondarydevice to easily be positioned by a user in any type of orientationabout the fixed axis (e.g., a landscape orientation, a portraitorientation, etc.)

Moreover, the user may launch or switch to specific application on thesecondary device 74 by rotating and positioning the secondary device 74into particular orientations. For example, the user may rotate thesecondary device 74 into a vertical, portrait orientation to launch avideo conferencing tool, videophone, telephone, video messaging, videobroadcasting, etc. to display digitized video data via a video interfaceapplication. In response to detecting the portrait orientation of thesecondary device 74, the dedicated communication module 44 may displaythe particular one or more applications that correspond to the portraitorientation. Likewise, when a user rotates the secondary device 74 tothe landscape orientation, for example, a communication user interfaceor any other application may be enabled or launched.

Now referring to FIG. 3, an example screenshot 80 illustrates acommunication user interface 81 as shown on a secondary device 14, forexample. This example screenshot 80 of the communication user interface81 may also appear, for instance, on the secondary device 74 as shown inFIG. 2. The communication user interface 81 may include, for instance, acommunication interface 82, a utility bar 84, a productivity interface86, a feedback slider 98, a telephony interface (not shown), athird-party meeting interface (not shown), etc. The dedicatedcommunication module 44 of the second device 14 may display a receivedcommunication message to the user via the communication interface 82.

For example, the communication interface 82 may include text of areceived message 88, a department and a location 90 associated with theorganization of the sender of the message, and easily accessible helpflags or buttons 92-96 that when activated, may connect the user withthe department corresponding to the button activated. A user may receivean intra-organization communication from another user within one of thevarious departments within the organization, such as a managementdepartment, a human resources (HR) department, an information technology(IT) department, a healthcare department, etc. The dedicatedcommunication module 44 may use an identifier from the data to indicateto the user the various departments, for example, by different colors,different shadings, etc. to clearly distinguish the particulardepartment with which the message is associated. Similarly, thededicated communication module 44 may use an identifier to indicate thelocation or office with which the message is associated. After a messagehas been reviewed, the user may acknowledge the message by sliding, orotherwise activating, the feedback slider 98 as shown in FIG. 3.

This acknowledgement of the message, via the feedback slider 98, maycause the dedicated communication module 44 to update a message log 100that appears in the utility bar 84. The message log 100 records one ormore messages that have been acknowledged in the past. For example, asshown in FIG. 3, the most recently acknowledged message appears at thetop of the message log 100 and is time stamped at “9:08 AM.” If the useracknowledges the currently displayed message within the communicationinterface 82, for instance, the message would disappear from thecommunication interface 82, and a new acknowledged message would appearat the top of the message log 100 with a new time stamp of “9:28 AM”(i.e., the current time as shown in the upper right corner of thecommunication user interface 81.) The user may select an entry withinthe message log 100 to review a previously acknowledged message.

Still referring to FIG. 3, the utility bar 84 may also include one ormore utility icons 104-109, for example, that allows the user to selecta particular type of communication or productivity information to viewthat is associated with one of the utility icons 104-109. For example,as shown in FIG. 3, the calendar icon 104 is associated with a calendarevent that displays an upcoming meeting appointment 102. The user maydismiss, via the productivity interface 86, the upcoming meetingappointment 102 by selecting the “Dismiss” icon. Additionally, the usermay select the upcoming meeting appointment 102 to cause the dedicatedcommunication module 44 to display a more detailed view of the user'scalendar, as shown in FIG. 4. Another utility icon within the utilitybar 84 may include an electronic message icon 105 that allows the userto view received emails, texts, instant messages, etc. when selected.Furthermore, the electronic message icon 105 may allow the use to draftemails, texts, instant messages, etc. as well. A telephone icon 106allows the user to make and receives telephone calls via the secondarydevice. Similarly, a video phone icon 108 allow the user to answer or tomake a video call, participate in a video conference, or receive a videobroadcast. A notification icon 107 may notify the user when one or moretypes of messages are available for the user. These messages may beemail, text, voicemail, video message, or any other type of digitalmessage. The task icon 109 may allow the user to view upcoming tasks forthe user to complete. These tasks may be received from another party ormay from the user inputting the task herself.

Now referring to FIG. 4, an example screenshot 110 illustrates acalendar user interface 111 as shown on a secondary device 14, forinstance. In this example, the calendar user interface 111 may include agraphical depiction of a calendar 112 that displays one month at a time.Of course, the calendar user interface 111 may also display one day, oneweek, one year or any other period of time to the user. The user maytoggle between these time periods by selecting a particular day on thegraphical depiction of the calendar 112 or may select a particular yearicon (not shown.) As another example, each month of the year may beselected by a user via the month selector icons 116. A detailed view fora selected day 114 allows the user to view one or more appointments. Theappointments may be user created or may be received as part of anintra-organization communication. The dedicated communication module 44may also display a view of the user's task list.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example screenshot 120 of a task management userinterface 121 as displayed on a secondary device 14. The task managementuser interface 121 includes a priority task display 122 that displaysthe user's tasks in a list, for example. These tasks may be user createdor may be received as a communication specific to the organization.Furthermore, the dedicated communication module 44 may group the tasksby a priority level and may identify the priority levels with differenttypes of indicators, such as different colors, different shading, etc.In addition to the examples illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the dedicatedcommunication module 44 may display any other type of the user interface121, such as a person-to-person messaging user interface, a contact userinterface, a consolidated mail user interface, a promotional userinterface, a “sticky note” user interface that allows a user to leave adigital note at a coworker's desk, etc. Other types of user interfacesmay include a unit converter, an alarm clock, a note pad, a calculator,a dictionary, etc.

While the dedicated communication module 44 of the secondary device 14may allow for the display of received communications, the administratorinterface module 60 of the administrator device 18 allows anadministrator or another user associated with the organization to createand send a communication to one or more users associated with theorganization. Referring now to FIG. 6, an example screenshot 130illustrates an administrator interface 131 that allows an administratorto create and send an intra-organization message. The administratorinterface module 60 may cause the administrator interface 131 to bedisplayed on the display 56 of the administrator device 18 as anapplication running on an operating system of a general purposecomputer. Moreover, the administrator interface 131 may run as a mobileapplication on a mobile device, such as a mobile phone, a tablet, etc.The administrator interface 131 may include a recipient interactivecontrol 132, a message interactive control 134, and a feedbackinteractive control 136.

As an example, an administrator may wish to send a communication to oneor more users associated with the organization. The administrator mayselect one or more recipients within the recipient interactive control132. A recipient may be defined as only an individual user associatedwith the organization, a group of users associated with theorganization, or every user in the entire organization. As shown in FIG.6, for example, the administrator may select an individual selector icon138, a group selector icon 140, or an entire organization-wide selectoricon 142. However, the administrator interface module 60 may defined anytype of group to appear as one of the selector icons 138-142.

An administrator may next draft the payload (e.g., content, text, etc.)of the message 144 in the message interactive control 134. The contentmay include multimedia information, such as video, images, sound files,etc. The administrator may enter the content for the message via awireless keyboard, for instance, or upload a document (e.g., a .pdf, a.doc, etc.) The administrator interface module 60 may temporarily storethis administrator-entered content locally until the administrator hascompleted configuring her communication. The administrator mayadditionally specify feedback options 146-150 within the feedbacksetting area 136. The administrator interface module 60 may display tothe user any type of feedback requested from the recipient. For example,the administrator may request from the recipient a binary yes/noconfirmation, a text reply, a video reply, a dismissed alert, anaway-from-desk reply, a task status, an indication of when a message hasbeen viewed, an indication of acceptance of an incoming voice call, anindication of acceptance of incoming video call, etc. After theadministrator is satisfied with her selections, the administratorinterface module 60 may transmit the message to the recipient.Advantageously, this communication system allows multi-modal messagingoptions into the one administrator interface 131, provides real-timefeedback and status of messages, and generates data for employeeanalytics.

To further illustrate the techniques for configuring communicationsbetween users within an organization, example methods that the dedicatedcommunication module 44 may implement are discussed next with referenceto FIGS. 7 and 8. More generally, these methods can be implemented inany suitable computing device and any suitable software application. Forexample, these methods can be implemented as sets of instructions storedon a computer-readable medium and executable on a processor.

The flow diagram of FIG. 7 illustrates an example method 200 forefficiently presenting data to a user operating a primary device in aprivate communication network specific to an organization. At a block205, data addressed to a user is received. The data may includeinformation about the intended recipient(s), the sender (i.e., theassociated department within the organization and/or location ofsender), etc. Furthermore, the data may include not only message databut also streaming data, such as streamed digitized voice data for atelephone, streamed digitized video data (e.g., videophone, videoconference meeting, a broadcast video announcement, etc.), or any othertype of streamed data. The dedicated communication module 44 or theintelligent communication module 26 may determine whether the dataincludes communications that are specific to the organization at a block210. Either the intelligent communication module 26 or the dedicatedcommunication module 44 may use a specific type of data or a marker todetermine whether the data includes communications specific to theorganization.

If, at the block 210, the data is determined to not includecommunications that are specific to the organization, then control istransferred to a block 215. At the block 215, the data routed to theprimary device 12 for processing. On the other hand, if the data isdetermined to include communications that are specific to theorganization, then control is transferred to a block 220. At the block220, the data is routed to the secondary device 14 and not routed to theprimary device 12.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of an example method for configuringcommunications in a communication network of an organization. Moreparticularly, a software module may implement the method 300 to allow auser to configure communications between users in an organization. At ablock 305, an administrator interface module 60 provides a firstinteractive control for selecting one or more users within anorganization as recipients of a message. The recipient(s) may include anindividual user, a group of users, or all users within the organization.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the administrator interface module 60 allows auser to select the recipients of the message via the recipientinteractive control 132. The administrator interface module 60 providesa second interactive control for entering a payload of the message at ablock 310. The payload of the message may include not only text, butalso (or alternatively) multimedia information, such as video, images,sound files, etc. An example of entering this payload of the message isillustrated in FIG. 6 with allowing a user to enter the payload of themessage via the message interactive control 134. At a block 315, theadministrator interface module 60 provides a third interactive controlfor specifying a feedback option for the message. The feedback optionsmay include a binary yes/no confirmation, a text reply, a video reply, adismissed alert, an away-from-desk reply, etc. The administratorinterface module 60 receives a selection of the one or more users andthe payload via the first interactive control and second interactivecontrol, respectively, at a block 320. The administrator interfacemodule 60, at a block 325, transmits the message to the secondarydevices 14 of the one or more users.

The following additional considerations apply to the foregoingdiscussion. Throughout this specification, plural instances mayimplement components, operations, or structures described as a singleinstance. Although individual operations of one or more methods areillustrated and described as separate operations, one or more of theindividual operations may be performed concurrently, and nothingrequires that the operations be performed in the order illustrated.Structures and functionality presented as separate components in exampleconfigurations may be implemented as a combined structure or component.Similarly, structures and functionality presented as a single componentmay be implemented as separate components. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of thesubject matter of the present disclosure.

Additionally, certain embodiments are described herein as includinglogic or a number of components or modules. Modules may constituteeither software modules (e.g., code stored on a machine-readable medium)or hardware modules. A hardware module is tangible unit capable ofperforming certain operations and may be configured or arranged in acertain manner. In example embodiments, one or more computer systems(e.g., a standalone, client or server computer system) or one or morehardware modules of a computer system (e.g., a processor or a group ofprocessors) may be configured by software (e.g., an application orapplication portion) as a hardware module that operates to performcertain operations as described herein.

In some cases, a hardware module may include dedicated circuitry orlogic that is permanently configured (e.g., as a special-purposeprocessor, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) to perform certainoperations. A hardware module may also include programmable logic orcircuitry (e.g., as encompassed within a general-purpose processor orother programmable processor) that is temporarily configured by softwareto perform certain operations. It will be appreciated that the decisionto implement a hardware module in dedicated and permanently configuredcircuitry or in temporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured bysoftware) may be driven by cost and time considerations.

Accordingly, the term hardware should be understood to encompass atangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed,permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily configured(e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner or to perform certainoperations described herein. Considering embodiments in which hardwaremodules are temporarily configured (e.g., programmed), each of thehardware modules need not be configured or instantiated at any oneinstance in time. For example, where the hardware modules comprise ageneral-purpose processor configured using software, the general-purposeprocessor may be configured as respective different hardware modules atdifferent times. Software may accordingly configure a processor, forexample, to constitute a particular hardware module at one instance oftime and to constitute a different hardware module at a differentinstance of time.

Hardware and software modules can provide information to, and receiveinformation from, other hardware and/or software modules. Accordingly,the described hardware modules may be regarded as being communicativelycoupled. Where multiple of such hardware or software modules existcontemporaneously, communications may be achieved through signaltransmission (e.g., over appropriate circuits and buses) that connectthe hardware or software modules. In embodiments in which multiplehardware modules or software are configured or instantiated at differenttimes, communications between such hardware or software modules may beachieved, for example, through the storage and retrieval of informationin memory structures to which the multiple hardware or software moduleshave access. For example, one hardware or software module may perform anoperation and store the output of that operation in a memory device towhich it is communicatively coupled. A further hardware or softwaremodule may then, at a later time, access the memory device to retrieveand process the stored output. Hardware and software modules may alsoinitiate communications with input or output devices, and can operate ona resource (e.g., a collection of information).

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented modulesthat operate to perform one or more operations or functions. The modulesreferred to herein may, in some example embodiments, compriseprocessor-implemented modules.

Similarly, the methods or routines described herein may be at leastpartially processor-implemented. For example, at least some of theoperations of a method may be performed by one or processors orprocessor-implemented hardware modules. The performance of certain ofthe operations may be distributed among the one or more processors, notonly residing within a single machine, but deployed across a number ofmachines. In some example embodiments, the processor or processors maybe located in a single location (e.g., within a home environment, anoffice environment or as a server farm), while in other embodiments theprocessors may be distributed across a number of locations.

The one or more processors may also operate to support performance ofthe relevant operations in a “cloud computing” environment or as a SaaS.For example, at least some of the operations may be performed by a groupof computers (as examples of machines including processors), theseoperations being accessible via a network (e.g., the Internet) and viaone or more appropriate interfaces (e.g., application program interfaces(APIs).)

The performance of certain of the operations may be distributed amongthe one or more processors, not only residing within a single machine,but deployed across a number of machines. In some example embodiments,the one or more processors or processor-implemented modules may belocated in a single geographic location (e.g., within a homeenvironment, an office environment, or a server farm). In other exampleembodiments, the one or more processors or processor-implemented modulesmay be distributed across a number of geographic locations.

Some portions of this specification are presented in terms of algorithmsor symbolic representations of operations on data stored as bits orbinary digital signals within a machine memory (e.g., a computermemory). These algorithms or symbolic representations are examples oftechniques used by those of ordinary skill in the data processing artsto convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. Asused herein, an “algorithm” or a “routine” is a self-consistent sequenceof operations or similar processing leading to a desired result. In thiscontext, algorithms, routines and operations involve physicalmanipulation of physical quantities. Typically, but not necessarily,such quantities may take the form of electrical, magnetic, or opticalsignals capable of being stored, accessed, transferred, combined,compared, or otherwise manipulated by a machine. It is convenient attimes, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to such signalsusing words such as “data,” “content,” “bits,” “values,” “elements,”“symbols,” “characters,” “terms,” “numbers,” “numerals,” or the like.These words, however, are merely convenient labels and are to beassociated with appropriate physical quantities.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, discussions herein using wordssuch as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,”“presenting,” “displaying,” or the like may refer to actions orprocesses of a machine (e.g., a computer) that manipulates or transformsdata represented as physical (e.g., electronic, magnetic, or optical)quantities within one or more memories (e.g., volatile memory,non-volatile memory, or a combination thereof), registers, or othermachine components that receive, store, transmit, or displayinformation.

As used herein any reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular element, feature, structure, or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment is included in at least oneembodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in variousplaces in the specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame embodiment.

Some embodiments may be described using the expression “coupled” and“connected” along with their derivatives. For example, some embodimentsmay be described using the term “coupled” to indicate that two or moreelements are in direct physical or electrical contact. The term“coupled,” however, may also mean that two or more elements are not indirect contact with each other, but yet still co-operate or interactwith each other. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,”“including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, areintended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process,method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is notnecessarily limited to only those elements but may include otherelements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method,article, or apparatus. Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary,“or” refers to an inclusive or and not to an exclusive or. For example,a condition A or B is satisfied by any one of the following: A is true(or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false (or notpresent) and B is true (or present), and both A and B are true (orpresent).

In addition, use of the “a” or “an” are employed to describe elementsand components of the embodiments herein. This is done merely forconvenience and to give a general sense of the description. Thisdescription should be read to include one or at least one and thesingular also includes the plural unless it is obvious that it is meantotherwise.

Upon reading this disclosure, those of skill in the art will appreciatestill additional alternative structural and functional designs forproviding an interface for inspecting indoor and outdoor map datathrough the disclosed principles herein. Thus, while particularembodiments and applications have been illustrated and described, it isto be understood that the disclosed embodiments are not limited to theprecise construction and components disclosed herein. Variousmodifications, changes and variations, which will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art, may be made in the arrangement, operation anddetails of the method and apparatus disclosed herein without departingfrom the spirit and scope defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for efficientlypresenting data to a user operating a primary device in a privatecommunication network specific to an organization, the methodcomprising: receiving, at an intelligent communication module of acommunication server from an administrator device connected to theprivate communication network, data addressed to the user; determining,by the communication server, whether the data includes communicationsspecific to the organization or communications that are not specific tothe organization; routing, from the communication server and via theprivate communication network, the data to an address on the privatecommunication network associated with either a primary device of theuser or a secondary device of the user, wherein the primary device is ageneral-purpose computer and the secondary device is a special purposecomputing device, such that: communications specific to the organizationare routed to the address on the private communication networkassociated with the secondary device and not the address on the privatecommunication network associated with the primary device, andcommunications not specific to the organization are routed to theaddress on the private communication network associated with the primaryand not the address on the private communication network associated withthe secondary device.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein determiningwhether the data includes communications specific to the organizationincludes determining whether the data includes one of (i) an electronicmessage, (ii) a digital calendar event, (iii) digitized voice, or (iv)digitized video.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whetherthe data includes communications specific to the organization includesdetermining whether the data includes data packets addressed (i)individually to the user, (ii) a group of users including the user, or(iii) all users in the organization.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereinthe organization is a business entity employing a plurality of usersincluding the user.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising, whenthe data includes communications specific to the organization: assigninga level of priority to the data, and causing the data to be routed tothe secondary device in accordance with the assigned level of priority.6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the data includescommunications specific to the organization includes determining whetherthe data includes one or more identifiers relating to origination of thedata.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the identifier includes anindication of a location from which the data originated.
 8. The methodof claim 6, wherein the identifier includes an indication of adepartment within the organization from which the data originated. 9.The method of claim 8, wherein the department within the organizationincludes one of (i) a management department, (ii) human resource (HR)department, or (iii) an information technology (IT) department.
 10. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium storing thereon instructionsthat implement a software interface for configuring communications toone or more users operating a primary device in a communication networkof an organization, wherein the instructions execute on one or moreprocessors to: provide, via a user interface of an administrator device,a first interactive control for selecting the one or more users withinthe organization as recipients of a message; provide, via the userinterface of the administrator device, a second interactive control forentering a payload of the message; receive selection of the one or moreusers and the payload via the first interactive control and secondinteractive control, respectively; transmit, via a communication serveron the communication network, the message to respective addresses on thecommunication network associated with secondary devices of the one ormore users without transmitting the message to respective addresses onthe communication network associated with primary devices of the one ormore users, wherein: the respective primary devices are general-purposecomputers communicatively coupled to the communication network, therespective secondary devices are computers specifically configured todisplay communications specific to the organization, and the payload ofthe message is specific to the organization.
 11. The computer-readablemedium of claim 10, wherein the instructions execute on the one or moreprocessors to further provide a third interactive control for specifyinga feedback option for the message.
 12. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 11, wherein the feedback option includes one of (i) a binaryyes/no confirmation, (ii) a text reply, (iii) a video reply, (iv) adismissed alert, (v) a task status, (vi) an indication of when a messagehas been viewed, (vii) an indication of acceptance of an incoming voicecall, (viii) an indication of acceptance of incoming video call, or (ix)an away-from-desk notification.
 13. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 10, wherein the instructions are configured to enable a selectionof the one or more recipients from a single user, a group of users, orall users in the organization.
 14. The computer-readable medium of claim10 implemented in a general-purpose computer communicatively coupled tothe communication network.
 15. The computer-readable medium of claim 10implemented in a special-purpose messaging device configured to transmitand receive communications within the organization, wherein a useroperates the special-purpose messaging device as a secondary device anda general-purpose computer as a primary device.
 16. The method of claim1, wherein determining whether the data includes communications specificto the organization or communications that are not specific to theorganization comprises: applying, by the communication server, a markerthat indicates that the data includes communications specific to theorganization.
 17. A system for efficiently communicating between usersin an organization, wherein at least one user is operating a primarydevice, the system comprising: a general-purpose computing device thatoperates in a communication network of the organization as a primarydevice of a user, wherein the general-purpose computing device executesa plurality of software applications; a special-purpose computing deviceincluding (i) one or more processors, (ii) a user interface, (iii) anetwork interface, and (iv) a non-transitory computer-readable memory,wherein the special-purpose computing device operates in thecommunication network of the organization as a secondary device of theuser to receive and transmit communications specific to theorganization, the special-purpose computing device being configured todisplay the communications specific to the organization via the userinterface of the special-purpose computing device; an administratordevice that operates in the communication network of the organization,wherein the administrator device is used to generate data addressed tothe user; and a router (i) that operates in the communication network ofthe organization, (ii) that includes an intelligent communicationsmodule that causes generated data that includes communications specificto the organization to be routed to an address on the communicationnetwork associated with the special-purpose computing device and to benot routed to an address on the communication network associated withthe general-purpose computing device, and (iii) that causes generateddata that does not include communications specific to the organizationto be routed to the address on the communication network associated withthe general-purpose computing device.
 18. The system of claim 17,wherein the user interface of the special-purpose computing deviceincludes one of (i) a communication interface, (ii) a utility bar, (iii)a telephony interface, (iv) a third-party meeting interface, or (v) aproductivity interface.
 19. The system of claim 17, wherein thespecific-purpose computing device is further configured to displaydigitized video data via a video interface when the special-purposecomputing device is detected to be in a portrait orientation.